and wondered if there is anything worth listening to or how I can improve its performance. This is a 4 Band, Radio Shack model DX-375, which I had forgotten I had purchased for my dad one Christmas back in 1995 (I think). He loved to tinker with it to see what type of broadcasts he could find and what foreign countries he could locate (he spoke several languages). Well, it popped up in my house recently and tried it but all I get is static on the SW and a few AM/FM stations. I still have the box which says it tunes 2.3-6.25 MHz and 7.1-21.85 MHz and local AM and FM stations. I am located in central Florida. Any insight?
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Found a SW radio belonging to my dad...
- Thread starter Giadzi
- Start date
There are alot of english speaking programs on, you just have to google or download a shortwave schedule app to find out when they are on. Skywave schedules is a really good app for the phone that also has built in sdr on it as well and its totally free with no ads. And thank god all of those ridiculously annoying religious stations are falling by the wayside, finally. Much more pleasant sw listening now. Hook it up, tune around, see what you find. Lots going now, i listen every night. War updates, pirates, EAM stations, number stations etc. Especially from the E coast. Lots to hear
you got the same experience a lot of new shortwave users get. "?? this doesn't do anything"
what you probably did was turn it on and scan around during the day. you won't get much during the day.
2-12 MHz works during the night, best is 5-10 MHz.
9-21 MHz works during the day, best is 12-17 MHz though hardly anybody broadcasts above 18 MHz so you usually don't get anything that high. there aren't many stations during the day because a) signal propagation is nowhere near as good as at night, and b) broadcasters know people are off doing something else besides listening to a radio.
going outside does make a difference. your house does block some amount of signal.
connecting a "random wire" to the antenna does make a difference. 15-25 feet is good.
time of day makes a difference. night works much better than day, and the 2 hours around sunrise/sunset work even better for both day and night frequencies.
scanning s-l-o-w-l-y makes a difference. a strong station is easy to find because it is wide on the dial and hard to miss. a weak signal is faint and narrow on the dial, very easy to pass over without hearing anything. stations like those are like balancing on a knife edge, and there are many such stations.
if you attach a 25' wire to the antenna, and go outside at night, and scan slowly from 5-10 MHz, you will be amazed at what your radio is doing now that it didn't do before.
the DX-375 was a good radio back in the day. the year on the calendar won't make it any less than what it once was unless you're a salesman. good luck with your radio.
what you probably did was turn it on and scan around during the day. you won't get much during the day.
2-12 MHz works during the night, best is 5-10 MHz.
9-21 MHz works during the day, best is 12-17 MHz though hardly anybody broadcasts above 18 MHz so you usually don't get anything that high. there aren't many stations during the day because a) signal propagation is nowhere near as good as at night, and b) broadcasters know people are off doing something else besides listening to a radio.
going outside does make a difference. your house does block some amount of signal.
connecting a "random wire" to the antenna does make a difference. 15-25 feet is good.
time of day makes a difference. night works much better than day, and the 2 hours around sunrise/sunset work even better for both day and night frequencies.
scanning s-l-o-w-l-y makes a difference. a strong station is easy to find because it is wide on the dial and hard to miss. a weak signal is faint and narrow on the dial, very easy to pass over without hearing anything. stations like those are like balancing on a knife edge, and there are many such stations.
if you attach a 25' wire to the antenna, and go outside at night, and scan slowly from 5-10 MHz, you will be amazed at what your radio is doing now that it didn't do before.
the DX-375 was a good radio back in the day. the year on the calendar won't make it any less than what it once was unless you're a salesman. good luck with your radio.
Miklos' post is spot on. I would like add one suggestion: Use a set of headphones. Most of the old Rad Shack SW sets have a 6.35mm headphone jack. The stock paper cone speaker is probably shot by now. Headphones will really enhance your listening experience.
-399
-399
A good read about he DX375 is here :
interrocknation.blogspot.com
A lot of good info on this receiver, and how to ge the best out of it.
- 399
The REALISTIC DX-375 -- a great MW Long Distance Sangean-made Radio
As any radio enthusiast in the U.S. knows, for years Radio Shack was the place to buy radios if you were into long distance radio liste...
interrocknation.blogspot.com
- 399
ThanksA good read about he DX375 is here :
A lot of good info on this receiver, and how to ge the best out of it.The REALISTIC DX-375 -- a great MW Long Distance Sangean-made Radio
As any radio enthusiast in the U.S. knows, for years Radio Shack was the place to buy radios if you were into long distance radio liste...interrocknation.blogspot.com
- 399
ThanksA good read about he DX375 is here :
A lot of good info on this receiver, and how to ge the best out of it.The REALISTIC DX-375 -- a great MW Long Distance Sangean-made Radio
As any radio enthusiast in the U.S. knows, for years Radio Shack was the place to buy radios if you were into long distance radio liste...interrocknation.blogspot.com
- 399
ThanksA good read about he DX375 is here :
A lot of good info on this receiver, and how to ge the best out of it.The REALISTIC DX-375 -- a great MW Long Distance Sangean-made Radio
As any radio enthusiast in the U.S. knows, for years Radio Shack was the place to buy radios if you were into long distance radio liste...interrocknation.blogspot.com
- 399
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